Montsma Farm

Ed has run a totally no-till operation since 1995, and he’s one of the no-till pioneers in the county.  He participated in the Fond du Lac River Priority Watershed Project’s High Residue Management Program, a past program that encouraged farmers to leave residue on their fields after planting their crops to help alleviate soil erosion.  Ed used cost share dollars from the program to retrofit his planter so that he could penetrate through residue and the organic layer and achieve proper seed depth and planting rates.  Doing that provided gains in his crop production and saved time as well, making no-till farming something he wanted to commit to for the long term.  Ed also practices on farm conservation by putting in grassed waterways and contour strips along with his no till work. He’s also got some buffer strips along the Rock River near Waupun, which have been in place for 30 years. Ed made a perfect candidate for the Upper Fox Wolf Demonstration Farms Network because of his already established long term commitment to soil health and conservation practices, and his openness to do more.  His goals through the network are to integrate cover crops into his rotation.  He aerial frost seeded a rye cover crop in 2019 and 2020. He also did a cover crop mix after wheat in 2020 which had ryegrass, clover, oats and peas.  Most of the species survived the mild winter into spring of 2021.